Advocates seek to preserve gay-friendly political districts

July 13, 2011

California’s Redistricting Commission may draw its new political districts with an eye toward protecting the voting power of “gayborhoods.” [MercuryNews]

Advocates for gay and lesbian groups have petitioned the commission to preserve or expand the number of gay-friendly congressional or legislative districts. They have provided maps that show gay-friendly neighborhoods in areas from San Francisco to the Oakland hills to downtown San Jose.

Commission members have indicated in public hearings that they will respect their boundaries where they can.

“Communities of interest such as Latinos and African-Americans are protected to ensure proper representation,” said Mario Guerrero, government affairs director for Equality California, a gay advocacy group, to the Mercury News. “We want the same opportunity to elect representatives from our community.”

One panelist on the 14-member California Citizens Redistricting Commission described the maps as “making the invisible visible.” A national redistricting analyst said the campaign was unprecedented.

“I haven’t heard of this level of involvement by an LGBT group in state redistricting anywhere else, which is probably due to California’s new independent redistricting process,” said Tim Storey of the National Conference of State Legislatures to the Mercury News.

How about we do “virtual districts” where you can sign up to join whatever district represents you? That way the one straight guy in S.F. can join the Tehama County group and the gay guy in Modoc can join the San Francisco group?

Geographic lines are kinda silly if we’re going to go down this road of catering to every special interest. Really.

No, they just don’t want their power of numbers (that white straights have always used for their own betterment) diluted. That’s fair enough. No group wants to be wiped out politically because of this. So if a neighborhood is largely gay it is fair for them to petition to be included in one district so they can vote their interests and actually win sometimes.
The white power structure has always maintained its power buy robbing others of their voting blocks. I will be thrilled to see more gay folks in government, as I will more people of color and alternative thought processes. As much as I hold the tea baggets in contempt even a few of them would be OK.

So, simply by being here I am using my “white power” to dilute and rob the gay vote? What the…???

You know, I don’t even know any conservatives that even think along those lines. It always seems to be the “progressive” side that is counting beans (skin color, orientation, etc.), dividing the community, and making such accusations.

If your post sounds racist by swapping out ‘straight’ or ‘white’ with any other minority, then it’s racist. Can you imagine someone publicly stating, “I’d be thrilled to see more white folk in government”???? Holy cow! That would go down in flames! Please reconsider your viewpoint.

I think you over reacted and are not hip to the history of politics and racism in our land of the brave, home of the free. The right to vote is fundamental to freedom yet women and minorities have had to fight hard to get the right to vote, and in the case of colored (all colors but white) folks they have often been discriminated against even when the law gave them the right. Poll taxes, the modern rip off from the white right in Florida, Ohio and other places, racial gerrymandering- all designed on purpose to dilute or eliminate effective voting by these disenfranchised folks. Your words might make sense to someone without any knowledge of our sordid history and appealing to the ignorant is what the tea party folks do, that is why I hold them in low regard. Being ignorant is an innocent crime against humanity, but calls for enlightenment or it becomes an intentional step towards stupidity.
Now the Gay community is way more savvy and will not stand for this manipulation to keep them down, and I applaud that. And duh, look around. Almost all of our elected gummint folks are white, hetero, male people. So yeah, I stick to my claim. As soon as our elected folks represent in color and attitude their communities I will not have a problem with this aspect of things.
Of course sometimes a right wing black person gets into a position of power, an incredible situation since conservative elements hate most black, brown, foreign, gay and female people. But if that person is chosen by a predominant black community then so be it. Sometimes a closet gay hypocrite gets elected and spends his career bashing gays and promoting his pasty faced ‘family values’ before being found out-always republicans. The Dems that get caught with their pants down are almost always in hetero relationships. Arnold is one of the few repo disasters that actually focussed his attentions on women. Quite a zoo, most of the animals in it are right wing neo cons. You neo cons will flip out-you are ignorant-no, stupid, for you reject the truth because you are too shallow to ‘man up’ and do the right thing by considering other views and checking them out. Do the research, look for all the creepos on YOUR side who are crooks, liars, hypocrites. Though the neo cons cannot be blamed for all our problems they are constantly at work to destroy any good the government can do, condemning it all the while and trying real hard to be it. Is’t that cute; call government evil and then fight to the death to get into it? Reagan started the madness (though his buddy Nixon surely was, before Ronnie, the worst crook we’ve ever had) and the nightmare continues with the bushes and now the tea bag weirdos and run of the mill republicans that vote in a block to wreck everything.
What we desperately need and will never get is a fair and impartial investigation into the war crimes of the bush crime family. Sure I’m biased, but I know what I am talking about.

The citation for fox news is not credible for there is no fox news, only fox lies and distortions. The network is a subsidiary of the repo party and can’t be trusted to give us the time of day. I will look at any credible source of info presented.